Author Topic: Slot machine ad (Read 6665 times)

Cowboy Bebop · « **on:** September 04, 2003, 06:04:15 AM »

Hi, long time reader, first time poster. What could bring me out of lurker status? It's that annoying slot machine banner ad. I don't mind you guys having ads on your site. I don't even mind the click through ads. (ok maybe those a little) That slot machine banner ad drives me insane though. It blares this obnoxious slot machine music that is at a much louder volume than anything else on my computer. It's annoying during the day, but it's really agravating at night when other people in the house are trying to sleep and that thing comes on. Please only except banner ads that are mute. I shouldn't have to turn off my sound when surfing your site.

KnowsNothing · « **Reply #1 on:** September 04, 2003, 09:49:32 AM »

or you can have your sound off to begin with because there's nothing to hear on a forum.

sorry to sound like a meanie, but it's reall very simple.

Cowboy Bebop · « **Reply #2 on:** September 05, 2003, 06:47:17 AM »

I don't think you sound like a "meanie", but as I said in my original post I shouldn't have to turn off my sound when surfing the site. A lot of times sites don't relize some things are a problem. I was just trying to bring to their attention that this type of thing bothers me. Right now it's just one ad, but in the future it could be possible to have two or more ads come up with sound all competeing over top of each other. It's unnecessary. I can't imagine any one saying "Wow, I've got to click on that ad that's playing that loud, repetitive, annoying music. It must be a great site!". I think it would be wiser for PGC to just set a standard that banner ads are mute. If they want to have the click through ads have sound, at a reasonable volume, fine. I'm not saying that they have to remove the ad or I'm never coming back here again. I'm just saying that it's annoying, and I hope they take my feelings (and many others I'm sure) into consideration.

Cowboy Bebop · « **Reply #3 on:** September 05, 2003, 06:51:31 AM »

ps - it's on the main site, I never come to the forums. I just thought this would be the best place to bring this to their attention.

mouse_clicker · « **Reply #4 on:** September 05, 2003, 12:46:30 PM »

Well since there's no reason to have your sound on anyway, why not just turn it off? I agree you shouldn't have to, but you are perfectly capable of fixing the problem yourself, you're just choosing not to.

KDR_11k · « **Reply #5 on:** September 06, 2003, 03:22:55 AM »

www.opera.com
Solution to all browser problems.

PIAC · « **Reply #6 on:** September 06, 2003, 05:24:29 AM »

well i have my sound on at all times, the wonderful world of mp3s

, but reguardless, PGC doesn't have any controll over the ads they are sent, i remember people complaining about 'the core' ad (electrical super storms...) being loud and obnoxious and Rick said something to the effect of what i just said.

Cowboy Bebop · « **Reply #7 on:** September 06, 2003, 07:48:03 AM »

mouse_clicker, there are mail, im, and other programs that use sounds to let you know that something happened in the background. So it's not like there's no reason to have your sound on.

KDR_11k, I tried opera around two or three years ago and wasn't too impressed with it. There seemed to be a lot of page compatability problems. I'll have to give them another shot.

PIAC, I was afraid of that. Still, they could complain to the company that supplies the ads, or switch to a different company. Better yet, they could follow the Penny Arcade or Anime on DVD model and only place ads with companies they truly support, write them up a little bit in the news section to encourage us to visit them, and probably get a much better click through rate then with one of these ad providers, have less ads, be able to control the content of the ads, and build a sense of community between the fans and retailers.

Anyway, it's not like I'm going to stop visiting the site because of this. They still are, by far, the best Nintendo site on the net. I was just hoping.

mouse_clicker · « **Reply #8 on:** September 06, 2003, 07:50:20 AM »

Well, if your mail and IM programs are so important that you need to hear them, why visit PGC? I'm not trying to be mean, either, but it's not like the world is ending. If you REALLY want to keep everything up, including your sound, mute your computer when you load PGC's main site and refresh it if the slot machine ad pops up, then unmute your computer.

Cowboy Bebop · « **Reply #9 on:** September 06, 2003, 03:41:39 PM »

Why visit PGC?

Are you serious? Because it's the best Nintendo site on the web! That doesn't mean it couldn't be better. That's all I was trying to acomplish with my post. Sorry if I gave you the impression my world was coming to some kind of horrific end. Just a nuisance I wanted to address.

Obviuosly, I can turn my sound down. Since this is the only site I have this problem with from the thirty sites or so I visit everyday, I don't always remember that I have to turn down the sound until after the page has loaded and this ad starts blaring it's little song. If we don't stand up against this type of stuff, it's only a matter of time before every banner ad has a blaring little song. Can you imagine every ad on a page all blaring their annoying little songs one on top of another? No one will be able to have their sound turned on ever. I don't mind ads. I understand that's how sites like this manage to stay open. If they're advertising something I'm interested in I'll even click on them. I don't want to be hit over the head by them though, and I'll never click on an ad that does, even if it's advertising something I desperately need at an unbelivably good price.

RickPowers · « **Reply #10 on:** September 06, 2003, 03:45:05 PM »

IF you're using IE, there is an option to turn off multimedia features. That would probably just kill the sound in your browser, but leaves your mail program free to ding.

As for the ad, there are certianly some annoying ads out there, and I can discuss the matter with the ad hosts. If they've received a lot of complaints, they can pull a campaign, but PGC has no DIRECT control over ads that we don't sell ourselves.

mouse_clicker · « **Reply #11 on:** September 06, 2003, 03:50:43 PM »

My point, Cowboy, was that you shoudl choose if you want your messenging and mail services to beep at you when you want or if you want to visit PGC- if PGC's more important to you, which I'm guessing it is, it shouldn't matter that you're not hearing your messenger and mail services.

In any case, both Rick and I gave you a few strategies to use. I hope they work well.

Grey Ninja · « **Reply #12 on:** September 06, 2003, 07:50:50 PM »

ok, here's a solution for you. I have never seen the ad myself, but it can't be anywhere near as annoying as "The Core" ad that was running here a while back. I turned off Java to rid myself of that pestilence. Anyways, this might be a bit extreme, as it will disable ALL ads, but here goes anyways.

Upgrade your browser to Mozilla Firebird. It's a better browser all round than IE.

After you have done that, you need this extension. It shouldn't cost PGC any money to use this, as it simply keeps the ad from displaying, not downloading. Installing it simply requires a click once you are running Firebird.

BigJim · « **Reply #13 on:** September 07, 2003, 02:25:57 AM »

<--- would still pay money for an optional ad-free version of PGC.

They could use that money to build on the site, like stream radio shows of some kind (with news, not music). PGC really hasn't changed much in many years outside of tweaks and color changes. Obviously PGC's existance proves money is going into the site, but I'd love to see it evolve.

KnowsNothing · « **Reply #14 on:** September 07, 2003, 03:55:50 AM »

I have never seen the ad you're talking about, but the most annoying ad on the site is the one that takes up the WHOLE PAGE, causing you to ctrl+alt+delete and close all internet browsers, making me very angry.

Pale · « **Reply #15 on:** September 07, 2003, 05:51:40 AM »

Google toolbar = great pop up blocker for ie that is absolutely free

This doesn't solve the slot machine one, but it will solve many of the other ones.

KnowsNothing · « **Reply #16 on:** September 07, 2003, 12:50:46 PM »

I have the toolbar, but that popup still happens :\

Pale · « **Reply #17 on:** September 07, 2003, 02:38:23 PM »

Oh, i never get one like that....

KDR_11k · « **Reply #18 on:** September 07, 2003, 09:04:57 PM »

Steps for ad-freeness:
1. http://security.kolla.de - Use Spybot to block many known ad servers (look under "hosts file"). It can also track down spyware and trojans and fix a lot of security holes in IE.
2. Alternative browser. Most of those support popup-blocking, which proves VERY helpful with most ads. Also they don't support IE specific exploits, making your web experience a lot safer.
3. manual blocking. If there's a certain ad that's disturbing you add it's address with the IP 127.0.0.1 to your hosts file. Filename is "Hosts", no extension. Search for it in your win dir. This helped me with a defective ugo ad that always wanted to download itself.

Cowboy Bebop · « **Reply #19 on:** September 09, 2003, 06:29:42 AM »

Thanks to everyone for all the suggestions. I've tried a couple things and hopefully they'll work.

Hostile Creation · « **Reply #20 on:** September 13, 2003, 12:13:48 PM »

Your avatar's too big (cool though), but I don't suppose it matters since you only go to the site. Good luck with the problem.

Fluke Worm · « **Reply #21 on:** September 28, 2003, 10:21:21 PM »

Quote
the most annoying ad on the site is the one that takes up the WHOLE PAGE, causing you to ctrl+alt+delete and close all internet browsers

KnowsNothing try Alt+F4 rather than ctr+alt+delete.

KnowsNothing · « **Reply #22 on:** September 29, 2003, 03:42:35 PM »

Yeah, but I don't see that ad anymore. Thanks anyway, though.

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Author Topic: Slot machine ad (Read 6665 times)